The court upheld the designation of land as Ecologically Fragile Land under applicable legislation.

JUDGMENT

This writ petition is filed seeking the following reliefs:

“i) Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ order or direction quashing Ext.P15 government order.

ii) Issue a declaration that a land which is encircled by private land cannot be declared as EFL.

iii) Issue a declaration that the number of trees standing at the time of issuance of the EFL ordinance should be considered for the growth of natural vegetation.

iv) Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ order or direction quashing Ext.P13 & P14 report submitted by the 6^th and 7^th respondents.

v) Award a compensation of Rs.5,00,000/-

to the petitioner for the illegal custody of petitioner's land by the Forest Department and recover the amount from 6^th and 7^th respondents who are responsible for the dismissal of the application filed by the petitioner under Rule 17 of EFL Rules. vi) Issue any other appropriate order or direction which this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the nature and circumstances of the case.”[SIC]

2. When this writ petition came up for consideration, the learned Special Government Pleader (Forest) takes me through paragraph Nos.4 to 6 of the counter affidavit filed by the 1^st respondent which is extracted hereunder:

“4. It is humbly submitted that O.A.No.513/1976 was filed by Kesavan, S/o Ambattukulam Kuttan, Vemballur Amsom, Alathur Taluk, Palakkad District before the Hon'ble Forest Tribunal, Palakkad for exemption of 3.20 acres (1.2955 Ha) of land comprised in survey number 148 F4, 148 F5 of Thenkurussi- II Village. The above OA was allowed by the Hon'ble Forest Tribunal as per order dated 17.05.1978. A restoration proposal was submitted to the Government by the respondents but it was declined as it was not accompanied by a proposal to issue sec 5 Notification under Act 36 of

1986. Subsequently On promulgation of Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Ordinance 2000 the land was notified as Ecologically Fragile Land vide notification No.C4.21437/2000 dated 20.10.2000 and the notification published in Kerala Gazette Volume 46 Page No.13 dated 02.01.2001 as the same is deemed vested with Government by virtue of section 5(1) of the Ecologically Fragile Land Act, 2003. As on 02.06.2000, the land in dispute had abundant natural growth, lying contiguous to Muringamala Malavaram (VFC 193/1), devoid of any building and cultivation, and qualified the status of Ecologically Fragile Land therefore it was notified as EFL. Thus as per the section 3 (1) of the EFL Act, the ownership and possession of the area stands transferred to and vested in the Government free from all encumbrance and the right, title and interest of the owner thereon shall stand extinguished from the appointed day.

5. It is submitted that aggrieved by the above notification the petitioner had submitted an application under Rule 17 of Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Land) Ordinance 2000. On obtaining the application the respondents noticed some defect in the application and requested the petitioner to rectify the defects. Thereafter the EFL committee inspected the property and the members of the Committee submitted their reports after thorough verification, individual and independent reports were submitted by the Panchayat President and Head of Water Management (Agriculture), Divisional Forest Officer, Nemmara and Forest working Plan Officer. On verification, the EFL CDR committee found that both the bits are lying contiguous to vested forest and supporting abundant natural growth in it and devoid of any construction and cultivation. As the land qualified all the parameters as per Section 2(b)(i) of the EFL Act, it was recommended there to retain the land in dispute as Ecologically Fragile Land. The Government accepted the recommendation of the EFL CDR committee